Scars
by anbu-kakkashi
Summary: Another Nalu one-shot that I came up with what time I had left after hours of homework... The past of not being able to protect Lucy comes back to haunt Natsu! How does Lucy react and why doesn't Natsu like children?


**It's another Nalu.**

**Yay!**

**Sorry for the lateness of this.**

**School just got in the way, so... yeah.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"Aww, they're so adorable!"

Lucy kneeled down so that she was at the kids' eye levels and started handing out candy to them. We had been assigned to a mission to keep the orphanage kids safe when the wizards of the guild in the town went off to fight a dark guild. With the mission as a success, Lucy had bought some candy with a portion of the reward money and was now giving them away to them. But why did it have to be with just the two of us?

Oh God. I felt my hands starting to get clammy as beads of sweat ran down the side of my face.

"Here, you hand them out too."

Staring down at the handful of candy she shoved in my face, I felt the pace of my breathing grow faster.

"Natsu?"

I didn't know why I never noticed, but the next thing I knew, Lucy's warm, chocolate eyes were staring into mine, filled with worry.

"Are you-"

Cutting her short, I turned and ran for it. I couldn't take it anymore, the fact that I'd done _that_ to Lucy, no. No. "I need time." I whispered to myself as I ran through the forest, the branches whipping across my face and the underbrush scratching along my legs. "I need time!"

Stumbling into a clearing, I sat down in the middle of it, drawing my legs up close to my chest and gripping my salmon-colored hair tightly in my hands.

And the fact that she was with _children_ today-

A flashback of that day flitted through my mind and cut my thoughts midway. No. I didn't want to remember. That day, when I'd burned Lucy. When I'd _let go_ of her. I couldn't get the memories out of my head.

And like a movie, the scenes went by.

* * *

She never wore anything too revealing ever since.

The scar stretched from the middle of her rib cage, down to her left hip, and back across her lower back. It wasn't too noticeable; you couldn't really see it at first glance. But if you looked closely enough, you could see the white mark stand out against her already pale skin. And it was just happened to be one of those things that if you saw it one way, you couldn't ever see it another way ever again.

I just couldn't forget it, ever.

It was supposed to have been an easy mission, as all our near-death experiences started out as. It was simple, really. All that Team Natsu had to do was defeat a troublemaking wizard in town and then the reward would be ours.

But what we hadn't known was that the troublemaker had a whole gang of wizards; powerful ones. And just like that, we found ourselves in a heavy battle. If I defeated one guy, then another would automatically come seemingly out of nowhere non-stop.

"Natsu!"

Turning my head in the midst of battle, I looked in Erza's direction, who nodded towards Lucy. She looked faint, as if she had used all her magic power up. The good thing was, the number of enemies had dwindled and there weren't any near her at the moment.

The bad news? She was on the verge of falling off a cliff.

"Lucy!" I yelled her name and started running as she began to fell. Diving forward, I managed to grab a hold of one of her hands. "Lucy! Hold on!"

"Natsu…?" Coming to, Lucy looked up at me with wide eyes. "What happened?"

Groaning, I grabbed her hand with both of mine and tried to pull her up. Damn, when had I become so weak? I hadn't used that much magic power during my fights, had I?

"Erza! Gray! Help me out here!" Looking behind me, I saw the both of then locked head to head in a heated battle with the remaining standing enemy. Starting to feel Lucy slip from my grasp, I desperately turned back down to her and said, "Lucy, give me your other hand!"

She looked up at me, fear etched all over her beautiful face, but despite all that, she smiled. _Smiled._

Lucy smiling in such a situation wasn't good.

"I think my shoulder's dislocated."

Clenching my jaws even tighter, I started to panic. "Lucy, hold on! Hold on!"

Sweat started coating the surface our skins and I felt her slip even more. "I can't hold on any longer." She said, a sad smile dancing across her lips. "I'm sorry, Natsu."

"No! Don't say that! I'll save you, and-"

I felt the weight leave my hands.

And watched as she fell out of my reach.

"Lucy!"

Diving after her, I propelled myself down as fast as I could with fire spewing out of my feet.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" I chanted as I wrapped my arms around her unconscious form, hugging her head close to me. "Lucy, I'm so sorry!"

Reaching out with one hand, my fingers grasped at empty air as I tried to grab a hold of something, anything to break our fall. We seemed to be falling so fast, and even though I knew that the rocky ground was coming up to meet us, the seconds seemed like minutes and time slowed down for the both of us.

"Lucy-"

My line of speech was cut off along with my sight as I felt sharp fingertips reach out and graze our bodies, cutting through our skin as we fell through and hit the ground, knocking the both of us out in the process.

* * *

Why had I been so stupid? Tearing up blades of grass from the dirt around me, I pounded my fist into the ground and beat my head. I should've made Happy come along with us on that mission. I shouldn't have left him behind just because Carla had finally agreed to go on a date with him. If he had been there, Lucy would've been saved in no time!

Instead, I was held to the promise of protecting her and broke it.

Images of the orphans flashed through my mind, haunting me of what would never happen because of me.

_Because of me_…

* * *

Drip.

Something was falling on my face. What was it?

Drop.

Peeking my eyes open, all I saw was green for a moment until the wind blew away the leaf on my face.

Drip.

There it was again. Was it about to rain, or-

I watched as the crimson fell down towards me and hit my nose, sending little blood splatters in every direction. _Lucy's blood_.

My eyes shot open as I realized what had happened. Sitting up quickly and then regretting the sudden wave of pain that came through my head, which forced me to shut my eyes closed and sit still for a moment.

Looking around, I saw that we had fallen into a tree. It was a good that we had, or else we wouldn't have survived the fall at all. At least, for now…

God, there had been so much blood. Blood soaking into the dirt below me and blood dripping down from the branches above. Her clothes were stained a deep red and her chest fell up and down rapidly, trying to get air into her lacerated lungs.

"Lucy!"

Running over to her (at least trying to), I kneeled down beside her and began to put pressure on her wound. But there was so much blood, covering my hands in them and making me start to shake. "Lucy, _Lucy_…"

"Natsu!" Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Gray make a slide of ice and he and Erza were down in the valley at our side in no time. Gray kneeled down beside me and started to apply pressure on the wound along with me. "What happened?"

"I-I screwed up!" I screamed, going crazy at the sight of Lucy's blood that continued to pour out. "I couldn't protect her! She got hurt, and, and-!"

I was interrupted by Erza's metal punch to my head. "Natsu, calm down! Lucy can still be saved!" She snapped, then her voice took a more quiet tone. "You have to burn it closed."

My eyes grew wide and I frantically shook my head. "No! I can't do that! If I do that, then Lucy will be hurt even more!" I stared down at her blood-soaked clothes and took a deep breath in. "I-I can't hurt Lucy."

"N-Natsu?" My head snapped towards the source of the sound and found Lucy with her eyes half-open, a delirious look in both of them.

"Lucy! Are you ok?" I asked, removing my hands for a moment. Leaning over her, I put my hands to her face and looked her in the eye, getting her own blood smeared on her cheeks during the process. "Lucy! Answer me!"

"She's in shock." Erza said softly. "And she won't be around for much longer until you burn her wound." She put a comforting hand on my shoulder and I looked away, not wanting to give away the fear in my eyes.

"…Alright." I said quietly and readied myself. "Here I go."

* * *

Why hadn't we brought Wendy? She could heal any kind of wound, no matter how severe it was! But we had left her behind, thinking that there wouldn't be anything like what Lucy had.

Man, I'd screwed up big time.

* * *

"Natsu!" I flinched as I heard Lucy scream my name. "It hurts! Natsu!"

Hesitating momentarily at hearing my name being yelled, I took my hands off of Lucy and automatically turned towards her face, only to have Erza in the way. "Hurry up and finish the job!" She barked and I nodded and got back to lighting my hands again and laying them on the wound.

Jesus Christ, the way she thrashed around while being held down by Erza and Gray was a nightmare. And all to the extent of me being the cause of her pain was just unbearable. I didn't want to show them, I wasn't supposed to have been doing it, and I was sure that the others had seen it, but I was glad that they hadn't pointed out that there were tears streaming down my face and evaporating in my fire.

"Natsu." Erza quietly put her hand on my shoulder and ducked her head down, not wanting to see what I'd done; what she had made me do. "It's alright now. You can stop."

Letting out a shaky breath, I extinguished my fire and made my way over to Lucy's sleeping figure. "Lucy…" A sob racked my body as I held her close, not wanting to let go a second time. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

"Natsu. Natsu!"

I snapped back to reality with my face in grass and the smell of dirt in my nose. "What the?" I sat up and looked around. "What happened?"

Lucy huffed, putting her hands to her hips and gave me a disapproving frown. "What do you mean what happened? You were just sitting here like a rock and when I nudged you, you fell over!"

I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away, not wanting to see her at the moment. "Oh, really?" I drew my knees up to my chest again and wrapped my arms around myself. "I just need time to myself."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her sit down next to me and cringed. "It's the scar, isn't it?" She asked. "You know that it's ok, right? You saved my life and Wendy healed the wound once we got back to the guild. It's my fault for fighting so near a cliff. I should've known better."

I drew in a shaky breath and muttered, "I hurt you Luce, and I can't forgive that."

She didn't say anything for a moment and I could hear her ripping blades of grass up from the ground. "The children today, they're cute, aren't they? What do you say about adopting one of them and bringing them back home with us, huh? I'm sure the guild would love them."

Silence.

She ripped even more grass and continued. "But I don't know which one to pick. They're all so sweet! It'll be a hard choice, wouldn't it?"

Again, silence.

"I'd rather have a girl, but if you want to take home a boy, then that's-"

I couldn't take it anymore. Slamming my fist down onto the earth, I created a small depression where I'd let out my anger. "I don't understand!"

Lucy didn't seem fazed by my sudden outburst. "Natsu…"

"I let go of you! I wasn't strong enough! I couldn't protect you! So why don't you blame me? It was my fault that you became like this and it's so hard, with people smiling at me and acting as if everything is ok when in really, it would be so much easier if you blamed me! Dammit, Luce! Why don't you blame me!?" A whimper escaped my lips, one that I hated so much, and one that revealed the weakness inside of me. "I'd already lost Igneel and Lisanna once. I didn't want to lose you, but fuck everything, I screwed up."

Lucy sighed and put a hand on my shoulder, only to have me flinch away. "Natsu, you know that-"

"Lucy, stop."

"It wasn't your fault! I was just being-"

"Lucy. Stop."

"I was being careless, it had nothing to do with-"

"_Lucy!_"

I screamed her name and clutched at my hair, trying to get the train of thoughts out of my head. She still didn't understand, she was still trying to take the blame! I had hurt her so much that she could never have something dear to her, her own…

"_You can't have children because of that_."

The words that came out of my mouth in the pathetic, wimpy voice stung me more than it should have; it should have hurt Lucy more than me. But the fact that I'd taken away Lucy's future of raising her own child was the biggest pain that was in my heart.

"I-I know." She said softly, her voice shaking. I could feel the vibrations of her trembling body traveling through the ground and to my skin. "But that shouldn't stop me, should it? Let's adopt a kid, Natsu."

I stared silently at the ground, fists clenched and pressed toward the ground, smoke and the smell of burnt grass wafting up from the points of contact. "I hurt you Luce, and I can't forgive that." I said again.

"Natsu."

And before I knew it, her lips were on mine, and damn, no matter how much my mind screamed no, no matter how much it told me that I didn't deserve her and to be a man and not claim what wasn't mine, I couldn't stop.

Gasping for breath, I pushed her down onto the ground and locked my lips to hers once more. Slipping my hand under her shirt, I traced the scar that I knew that was there, feeling her shiver under my touch. I didn't want to stop, I wanted to enjoy the moment before my sanity came back and forced me to abstain but Lucy was the one to cut it short.

"I love you, Natsu, and I would never blame you for saving my life." She reached up to wipe something off my face. Tears? Since when had I been crying? "And I hate to see you in pain."

"But I hurt you-" She cut me off as she pressed her index finger to my lips.

"Don't. No more, ok?"

I saw the tears glistening in her eyes and nodded. "Ok. No more."

* * *

"We're back!" Lucy cried cheerfully as we stepped back into the guild.

"Welcome back!" Mira yelled from the bar and we both nodded, acknowledging her greeting.

"Actually, we have an announcement to make." I said loudly, loud enough to silence the ruckus in the entire guild. "We're going to have a new member."

Murmurs could be heard from all around as people began to take interest in what I'd just said. Turning around, I nodded towards Lucy, signaling that it was ok for him to come out now.

Timidly, he peeked out from behind Lucy, a classic thing that a five-year old do with their mother. Well, he couldn't be blamed. Lucy and I had just adopted Hiroshi a few days ago so he was still getting used to having us as his parent figures.

"This is Hiroshi, now Hiroshi Dragneel." I explained, putting a hand on top of his head to assure him and grinning as well. "He's our adopted son."

The guild was quiet for a moment and I wondered if I had said anything wrong. But the moment I opened my mouth to say something else, they broke out into cheer and ran straight for us.

"Hiroshi Dragneel! That's such a cute name!" Mira squealed and kneeled down to hug the kid.

"He'll be a true man!" Elfman yelled and threw a barrel at the wall, scaring the poor kid.

"Don't worry. Romeo nii-chan is here to teach him everything he needs to know about being a mage!" Romeo pointed proudly at himself, glad that he wasn't the youngest boy in the guild anymore.

"He and Asuka should be play buddies!" Bisca said and Asuka hid shyly behind her mother's back, seeing a child her age for the first time.

"Salamander being a father? I can't believe it." A vein popped in my head as I heard Gajeel scoff.

"Oh yeah? Do you think that you could do any better?" I shot back and he only shrugged and turned away.

"Well, I think I'm going to have to step in once in a while and make sure he doesn't grow up like his dad." Gray said, clad in only a pair of boxers, oblivious to what he was wearing.

"Kyah! Gray, put some clothes on!" Lucy screamed and covered up Hiroshi's eyes.

"When are you going to be bringing home your own son like that, huh?" Master asked playfully, nudging his grandson.

"You wish." Laxus only said the two words and scoffed.

"Call me Wendy nee-chan!" Wendy smiled and took the child's hand while Carla took the other with her tail.

"I'm an uncle now!" Happy grinned at Carla, only to have her blush slightly and look away.

"Oui, oui." Reedus muttered to himself and sat away from us, trying to capture what was going on in a painting.

"I'm an aunt!" Levy squealed and threw her arms around Lucy, ecstatic.

"His last name is Dragneel, yes?" Erza questioned and Lucy nodded.

"Yeah."

"But you said 'our' son." Lisanna pointed out and I nodded.

"Yeah."

"But that doesn't add up…?" Cana stared down at the floor, concentrating on the problem.

The three girls were lost in thought, thinking of how Hiroshi's adoption would work when Lucy spoke up again. "Oh, Natsu and I are engaged."

.

.

.

"_E~HHHH?_"

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**:P I don't know about the ending there but I think that the story was ok.**

**And to the people waiting for another chapter of "Lucy Love Triangle," I'm very sorry.**

**It's just that some idiot made a subject in school called English 9 Honors and for some reason my teacher's crazy about it.**

**So just sit tight and please wait patiently for the next chapter.**

**Leave reviews!**


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